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I have a 2013 Civic EX with 5000 miles. I recently relocated to an urban neighborhood in Seattle and rarely use the car, so I've decided to sell it. I'm not comfortable with the risks of private sale, so I'm planning to sell it to a dealer or CarMax. I haven't actually sold or traded a car before, so I would really appreciate your advice.
My car has some cosmetic body damage that I'm sure will impact the sale. The problem is that I have no idea how much of a difference it will make and whether I should have it fixed on my own before selling. I've posted some photos below, but basically I have a scape on the rear passenger side fender. There are some scratches to the paint, and some deeper scrapes down to the primer. There are also two small dents (with no paint damage) at the bottom of the rear passenger door.
How much do you think a dealer would take off their offer because of this? Any idea how much something like this would cost to repair? I'm open to getting some quotes from local body shops, but I don't want to waste my time if there's no way I'd make my money back on the sale. If it's not worth it to fix, is there anything cheap that could be done to at least make it look better?
Photos
(Sorry for the poor quality. My car is very dirty, but I did clean the area around the scrape. I had to use the flash because my parking garage had poor lighting, hopefully you can distinguish the flash from the actual damage)
I am a young female alone in the city and I don't feel totally comfortable showing the car to strangers. I doubt I would be able to defend myself if someone decided to steal my car or worse. There's also some risks involved in accepting payment, since scammers have gotten pretty good with fake cashier's checks and such. Finally, because the car is financed, it would be a lot easier to have a dealer take care of the paperwork and loan payoff.
I can tell you that some of those scratches you've pictured look like they will buff out with a good rubbing compound and some wax, and the deep scratch that's there can be filled in with a paint pen from the dealer.
I doubt it's going to impact your trade in value significantly, if at all. They can detail that car and touch that up pretty easily. It might cost you $200-$250 off the value, if any.
I would just go trade it in and not worry about it.
Actually, since there is a lien on the note, it has become more secure. The buyer will have to deal with the financial institution and it's hard to fool one. If someone took your car during a test drive, the insurance company should take that over.
[SIZE=5]AK76[/SIZE]
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Wow, why all the complicated, the end is near answers?
All you have to do is go to the bank/credit union of your choice with the seller. The loan officer at your bank will contact the bank holding the title and lien against the vehicle regarding the purchase/transfer of the vehicle to you.
The bank/loan officer is acting as agent for the transfer and bears the responsibility of making sure it is done correctly and legaly.
As for the remaining loan amount and the outstanding balance, that is something you all have to agree upon- either you will agree to pay the full amount to satisfy her existing loan, or she will have to pay the difference in order for the transfer to occur. Contrary to what sunspirit posted(at least in Alaska), the bank does own the vehicle by virtue of a lein, and possesses the title until the loan is satisfied. The loan officer will also take care of the registration requirements at the time of transfer. You will receive title to the vehicle once the loan is satisfied in full and you will be registered as the "owner".
If you go through a lending institution to purchase the vehicle it will be handled correctly and legaly. Also, with the seller being military, I guarantee the banks deal with exactly this on a regular basis.
Even if you have the cash to buy it outright and do nont need to finance it, you may still arrange for financing with your cash as collateral and turn right around pay off the loan in one fell swoop, and you will have the protection of the bank acting as purchasing agent for you.
Here is a post I made for a similar situation that you should find helpful. The damage to your vehicle will weigh against you as will the fact that you are trading it in vs. making a private sale.
Most of all, do what you are comfortable with, I just want to offer information that can be of benefit to you. If you have serious concerns that you may be at risk when showing the car, meet the prospective buyer on neutral and public ground and have a male friend accompany you. As for theft of the vehicle, someone else posted that insurance will cover that, and that is correct.
Personally, CloudyDaze . . . I would do my best to have as many, if not all of the "cosmetic" damage removed prior to attempting to sell.
Have you checked with your local Dent Busters? It is amazing what those guys can do and their prices are relatively low compared to the "diminished value" you'll experience when selling.
I looked up the trade in value on a 2013 Honda Civic EX sedan (for whatever reason I cannot see the pic you posted) and in EXCELLENT CONDITION, it lists as $16423 and FAIR CONDITION as $13673. Not sure how accurate these prices are in your area and since I can't see your pictures, I don't know the condition on the car. However, I can say that a good detailer will be able to "fix" many of the paint defects and a 2 stage paint correction should be about $500 or so.
When I traded in a car, the dealer was trying to knock off couple of hundred for little marring that I had on the driver side door which would have taken me $20 and 10 minutes to fix up. Based on this experience, I would try to fix it up as best you can within reason before presenting the car to a buyer.
Thanks for the advice. I'm getting the car detailed right now and they are going to buff out some of the lighter scratches, so hopefully that will help with the sale value. I don't think I will try to fix the deeper scratches because I'm pretty sure a dealer could get that fixed better and cheaper than I could.
Quote:
Originally Posted by C8N
I looked up the trade in value on a 2013 Honda Civic EX sedan (for whatever reason I cannot see the pic you posted) and in EXCELLENT CONDITION, it lists as $16423 and FAIR CONDITION as $13673. Not sure how accurate these prices are in your area and since I can't see your pictures, I don't know the condition on the car. However, I can say that a good detailer will be able to "fix" many of the paint defects and a 2 stage paint correction should be about $500 or so.
When I traded in a car, the dealer was trying to knock off couple of hundred for little marring that I had on the driver side door which would have taken me $20 and 10 minutes to fix up. Based on this experience, I would try to fix it up as best you can within reason before presenting the car to a buyer.
I have also looked at the book values for my car (KBB, Edmunds, NADA, Black book) and determining the condition is definitely the hardest part. Like you mentioned, there's a huge dropoff between very good and fair condition. Other than the scratches, the car is in very good condition, so I think a value of VG condition minus ~$500 would be fair, which would put it right under KBB's trade-in value for good condition. But I don't know how realistic that is. Any opinions?
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